Happy Halloween

Well I fully took advantage of being able to manipulate the kids once again this year. Katie wanted (with some gentle persuasion) to be Princess Belle this year. We had purchased the dress over the summer as a treat to wear to the Beauty and the Beast production. So after a lot of internet and catalog searching, I found an appropriately sized Prince Charming costume for Jack and what Princess would be complete without her little frog.. here comes Luke!

Trick or Treating was A LOT of fun this year. Katie was very grown up about taking Jack with her to the door of each house. It took Jack a couple of times to get it, but once he did he could not get to the next house fast enough.

Happy Fall!

I just love this time of year. The weather is just fantastic and there are so many family friendly activities around town that it is actually hard to hit them all. We were a little reserved this year and did not make it to as many as we would have like, if we had poor little Luke would have never been out of his car seat!

We did make it to the Houston Zoo for "Zoo Boo". This is a family favorite and we had a great time!

































We went to Sugar Land's Baptist's Fall Festival. The kids played lots of little games in exchange for Halloween candy, they jumped in the bouncy castles and enjoyed sausage on a stick (yes even Katie tried it!)

Oops We missed a month

I know everyone told me the 3rd baby would not get as much attention, there would be less photos, and that generally he would just have to find his spot in the already established family routine. While I knew this was probably true, I have tried my best to prove them wrong. We bought a new camera while I was pregnant so pictures would be abundant. I got a new phone with video capabilities so I could send is first movements across the web, but at five months in I have already failed. I forgot to record his fourth month achievements and yesterday he was 5 months.

Time really is flying by with this one. Our Lovely Luke is precious! He has a big smile for everyone and hardly fusses at all about being carted around to all of his sister & brother's activities, play dates and parties. Our weekends are all about making special time for the big kids individually and little Luke just says OK, you go and have your fun, I am happy to just chill at home!

So here goes.. at 4 months Luke was 25 1/4 inches long and weighed 17.9lbs! That is getting close to being off the charts.. There was not an official weigh in at 5 months, but my aching back is telling me he is still putting on the lbs! Everyone loves a chunky baby, so Luke is getting lots and lots of love!

He is just starting to twist his little body around, and if left on his tummy he will scoot backwards until something or someone stops him. He is doing very well sleep wise, consistently sleeping from 7pm - 8am with feeds at 10 & 6. His morning nap is more often than not on the go in the car, but when at home he loves to stretch out in is bed and crash for a hour. Afternoon nap is still very temperamental varying from 1 -3 hours (oh how I wish this would become a nice consistent nap). I know these might be boring details to report, but I have always said this blog is for me, and I know one day I will appreciate being able to look back on these little details.

Next step is food.. we are prepared with bibs, spoons and baby rice. My plan is to wait as long as possible before starting solids, once you go solid, you can't go back! Since he is sleeping over night so well we will probably wait until that changes before we make a go of it.

The big 6 month weigh in is right around the corner, so stay tuned for the latest developments!

Katie's Last Year of Pre-school

Fall is in the air and school pictures are in. Once again the camera loved Katie for her school photos, she loves school picture day!

She is doing great as an Orange friend with Mrs. Sems and we have decided to help her better prepare for kindergarten by adding two more days to her school week. she is now a Butterfly friend with Mrs. Temple as well. So she is now in pre-school 23 hours a week which we think will really help next year with the shock of a 35 hour school week.

Katie is also really enjoying her new "grown up" dance class. The more structure we can provide for her the better and she seems to have a lot of respect for all her new teachers this year!

We did "try" soccer this fall and have learned that while Katie loves to run around doing drills & kicking the ball, full on contact with the other players was not for her. Oh well, if you don't try you wont know! So her soccer days were limited, we are just going to stick with dance for now!

Luke's Photo Session

Luke's 3 month photo session went really well. Jack could have been more cooperative, but I find as he is getting closer to two, his cooperation in such matters is waining.. I really just wanted one good picture of the two of them together for their future shared room and I think I got it. You decide!

Happy 3 months Luke!

Luke was 3 months old on Friday and celebrated by watching England play (and win) a football match with Daddy. He is a very happy baby and is in awe of his big brother and sister (as they are with him). Jack's first concern in the morning and after nap is Luke. He loves to give kisses and hugs..

With the help of a dream feed about 10:30pm, Luke is sleeping to sometime between 5 -7 and eventually rises for the morning about 8. It is nice to have a lazy baby! He is talking so much that he had a hard time feeding, so we have to ignore him a bit to make sure he eats enough (which by the size of him we don't have much to worry about)!

Luke has officially been in his own room for a couple of weeks and does not seem to miss the coziness of Daddy's closet. It has been nice having his own space and keeping all of his things in one place.

He is about to outgrow the baby bathtub and then the real fun will begin when it is boys v. girls bath night. Watch this space, but the first post after the boys' bath night should be interesting!

Fall is in the air!

Well thank goodness we have had a few "fall like" days to break up some of this horrible humid heat. It has by no means been cool, but we have had a few days were it was not completely unpleasant to be outside. We even made a quick trip to the park and the kids loved it.

Katie is back in school (and not a day too soon) and loving it. Next week is a full week (which is still only 2.5 days). She also started a new dance class, and Jack is back at Gymboree. Houston... we have structure again! I am loving it and I think the kids are as well.

I am planning some play dates for Jack on Katie's school mornings and Luke it happy to just tag along. We are very excited that two baby boys have been born to friends in Riverstone this summer (baby Gavin just a couple of days ago..), so this time next year I am sure he will have his own little play group. As this will be Jack's last full year at home with just Mommy, we are going to take advantage and squeeze as much fun in as possible.

Our first morning with Katie back in school we hit Chuck E Cheese first thing and had the whole place to ourselves until some friends arrived. They all had a great time..